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GSEU COVID-19 Demands

Chancellor Johnson

The COVID-19 crisis has significantly impacted graduate students’ work, research, and educational capacities. Graduate student employees constitute one of the largest research and teaching labor pools at SUNY and deserve due respect and consideration as integral members of the SUNY community. As graduate student employees we must demand that Chancellor Johnson and SUNY protect the future and safety of all graduate student employees across SUNY.

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We, the undersigned graduate student employees and allies, write this statement to express our demands for SUNY to adequately support graduate student employees across its campuses during the coronavirus crisis.

The COVID-19 crisis has significantly impacted graduate students’ work, research, and educational capacities. Graduate student employees constitute one of the largest research and teaching labor pools at SUNY and deserve due respect and consideration as integral members of the SUNY community. In addition to numerous educational and professional strains, graduate students who work for the University are facing employment insecurity, increased workload for teaching assistants, and loss of access to facilities and resources necessary to advance our research and education.

In order for SUNY to adequately support graduate student employees across its campuses, we demand:

- No workforce reductions. Maintain all current state-funded teaching assistant, research assistant, and graduate assistant positions.

-Reimbursement of all mandatory fees for the Spring 2020 semester to all state-funded teaching assistants, research assistants, and graduate assistants.

-Extended time-to-degree and funding for all current Ph.D. students for a full additional year, regardless of the date of admission. The extension must cover the university’s eligibility requirements for dissertation completion.

-Adequate provision of PPE and safe workspaces to all essential graduate student employees, as per Governor Cuomo’s Executive Order and standards set by Communication Workers of America.

For the reasons stated above, we the undersigned firmly believe that SUNY administration must meet the demands we have laid out. For the future and safety of the SUNY community, we must fight to protect graduate student employees, and ensure the integrity of the democratic principles upon which SUNY was founded. During these times, we must recognize that our individual wellness depends on the wellness of each other.

Sincerely,
The undersigned Graduate Student Employees of SUNY

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